Betz Family Winery – Fall ReleasesBetz Family Winery’s Fall Releases live up to the expectations that accompany such a highly regarded winery. The 2008 Besoleil is as fine a Grenache blend as the winery has made. The 2008 La Cote Patriarche - which marks the twentieth vintage from these Red Willow vines - shows the depth and complexity that can only come from such age. Of the 2008 fall releases, winemaker Bob Betz says that the differences in site were particularly magnified in the 2008 wines. He describes the 2008 La Serenne – another stellar release of this wine – as “more brooding than it’s been in years.” This is the tenth year that Betz has been using these same rows at Boushey Vineyards.

Betz Family Winery La Cote Rousse Syrah Red Mountain 2008 $55Rating: ** (Exceptional) A nose to linger over with smoke, bacon fat, red and black fruit, and kisses of chocolate. Seamlessly stitched together on a palate rich with fruit and perfectly balanced acidity. Sails off into the distance. 100% Syrah. Ciel du Cheval and Kiona vineyards. Sampled at 68 degrees

Betz Family Winery La Serenne Syrah Yakima Valley 2008 $55Rating: ** (Exceptional) Dark as night with a purple tinge at the rim. Fairly closed up on the nose at present but with coaxing reveals black fruit, blueberries, lavender, milk chocolate, traces of licorice, and the famous Boushey funk. The palate is intense and dark and takes you down a rabbit hole of fruit and earth. It emerges with a long, slightly lemony finish. Give two years. 14.8% alcohol. Sampled at 68 degreesGorman Winery – Fall ReleasesA visit to Gorman Winery – now only open twice a year for release events – tells you everything you need to know about what will be in the bottle. Guitars hang from the wall alongside pictures of rock n’ rollers. The musical selection on my recent visit? Metallica’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls;’ Deep Purple’s ‘Highway Star;’ and Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades.’ Yes, it’s hard to maintain one’s objectivity about the wines with such songs playing in the background. The musical analogies are apropo as Gorman’s wines are like listening to a stereo with each of the knobs turned far to the right. The fruit is big; the oak big, the tannins big. These are each gigantic wines in Gorman’s bold, distinctive style.

Gorman Winery The Albatross Red Mountain 2008 $85Rating: ** (Exceptional) A perfumed nose with blackberry, balsamic, pencil lead, and licorice. Again, a monstrous, big beast of a wine that is an exclamation point on the palate. Hugely tannic and drinking very young right now. Give two to three years. 66% Cabernet Sauvignon; 34% Petit Verdot. Kiona Vineyard. Aged 20 months in new French oak. 120 cases produced.

Gorman Winery The Cry Baby Late Harvest Chenin Blanc Columbia Valley 2009 $25Rating: * (Excellent) Dried pineapple and honey on an aromatic, alluring nose. A rich palate loaded with sugar but perfectly balanced by acidity. A perfect end to any evening. Barrel fermented in new French oak. 12.5% alcohol. 170 grams Residual Sugar.

Guardian CellarsThe latest Guardian Cellars releases maintain the winery’s signature of over delivering for their price point. The 2008 Chalk Line in particular is about as high quality a wine as you will find in Washington for $25.

SYZYGYWhat’s this? An outrageously high quality Washington Syrah under $35? Indeed, Winemaker Zach Brettler has produced a wine of outstanding quality from the 2007 vintage at a price point below most of its peers.

OnesiesWinemaker Marcus Notaro of Col Solare describes 2007 as “a special year.” Indeed it was for Washington, and Notaro has perfectly captured the vintage in Col Solare’s 2007 Red Wine. Notaro describes the wine as, “Powerful and rich but without being over the top and edgy.”

Col Solare Red Wine Columbia Valley 2007 $70Rating: ** (Exceptional) A thrilling nose with aromas of spice, vanilla, black cherry and licorice. Big and power packed on the palate with tightly wound fruit, beautifully integrated tannins, and silky oak flavors. A wine with a long life ahead of it. Best I have had from this winery. 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Klipsun, Cold Creek, Andrews Horse Heaven, Weinbau, Hedges, Four Feathers, Stone Tree, and Coyote Canyon vineyards. Aged in 85% French and 15% American new oak barrels. 14.5% alcohol.

Erratum: Please note that the published note for the 2007 Col Solare Red Wine was originally listed as having a rating of Excellent (*) instead of Exceptional (**) - the actual rating I gave this wine when I sampled it. I discovered this error when reviewing my tasting note database. Both this post and the database were subsequently updated after rechecking my original notes. My sincere apologies to the winery and to my readers for this error.

The Cadaretta Highclimber is a 100% Sangiovese hiding under the label of a Red Wine. The name Highclimber is a tribute to the timber heritage of the Anderson and Middleton families who own the winery.